Top 10 Cars for 2014: PM Auto Excellence Awards

U.S. auto sales are booming, and the market is brimming with great cars—every segment is full of choices with modern styling and sporty driving dynamics. It's been an exciting year for car enthusiasts, but it also makes deciding on just 10 winners harder than ever. Our picks range widely in price, size, and utility, but, collectively, they also represent the very best of an industry filled with new life.

Car of the Year

Car of the Year

2014 Mazda6

Price: $21,675

Everybody loves an underdog story. Consider the fact that tiny, independent Mazda, now disassociated from Ford, built the 6 on an all-new architecture exclusive to the Japanese carmaker. The only cars that bear any structural similarity are Mazda's own 3 and CX-5. Under the hood is the same story: a 184-hp engine made by Mazda, for Mazda, that delivers up to 40 miles per gallon on the highway. This, from a company about one-eighth the size of General Motors. And the Mazda6 drives like a sports car. No other family sedan is as responsive, yet the ride is still sufficiently supple. The cabin design is simple, but we appreciate the straightforward functionality. This is not to say the Mazda lacks comfort; there's plenty of space for two adults and a child seat in the rear. And just try to find an interior surface that's not padded. If you want the latest technology features, they're all available: adaptive cruise control, automatic high beams, lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, and forward-collision warning. There's even an optional supercapacitor system that helps the alternator run less often, boosting mileage. Of course, it also helps that the Mazda6 is wrapped in sheet metal with curves that would make a Maserati jealous. But the 6 didn't earn our highest award because we're pulling for the little guy. It won because Mazda engineers set out to make a truly great car and succeeded.

Performance

Performance

2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

Price: $51,995

Truth be told, the Corvette Stingray could have won our award for value. It might sound funny, but this is basically a half-price supercar. Even with all the speed options the price is less than $61,000, and, thus equipped, the Stingray will hang corner for corner with the best sports cars in the world—and even manage to leave a few behind. But performance, of course, is a much more logical accolade for the new Vette. Going fast dominates every aspect of the car's design. The interior, for example, has buttons for the important controls and GM's brightest digital-instrument-cluster display—both are features that facilitate speed. And all those scoops and vents on the outside are functional, letting the car breathe and reducing drag at the same time. But if looking at the Stingray made our jaws drop, driving it left us utterly speechless. It's not just the figures the Corvette can achieve in acceleration, braking, or lateral grip, it's the way this car feels fun at every mph. Zero to 60 in 3.8 seconds is certainly impressive, but making a car that's also responsive, predictable, and accessible to every driver, from novice to pro, is something special. This might be the world's best sports car.

Cornering Made Easy Much of our amazement with the Stingray comes from the optional electronic limited-slip rear differential. A computer-controlled clutch pack constantly adjusts the amount of locking between the rear wheels—open for better handling in tight spaces, closed for more stability in long, fast corners. It works so well that we're wondering if GM's engineers moonlight as magicians.